The Flash
This article is an overview of the characters called "the Flash". If you are looking for a particular Flash, see The Flash (Disambiguation). The Flash is a character produced by DC Comics. Often called "The Fastest Man Alive", the mantle of the Flash has been worn by six individuals, all with the power of extraordinary speed stemming from a mysterious realm called the Speed Force. Flashes Jay Garrick The Golden Age Flash. Jay Garrick wanted to be a football star, but was deemed a "leadfoot" by his teammates. Finding solace in the laboratory, he was working on a project to purify "hard water" with no residual radiation when he fell asleep and inhaled th fumes produced by his experiment. Waking up with superhuman speed, he decided to become a superhero as the Flash. Barry Allen The Silver Age Flash. Barry Allen was a police chemist who had a penchant for always being late. While working in his lab one night, a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals. Though not feeling any different, Barry soon discovered he had gained superspeed. A fan of Jay Garrick's, he decided to carry on his legacy as the second Flash. Wally West The Bronze through Modern Age Flash. A huge fan of the Flash, Wally West was at his soon-to-be-uncle Barry's lab when he got to meet his hero, who told him of his origin. However, as fate would have it, the exact same accident that transformed Barry into the Flash happened to Wally, who became Kid Flash, and after Barry's death, the Falsh. Walter West An alternate timeline Flash who came to our timeline and took over the mantle of the Flash for a while. Bart Allen A Modern Age Flash. Hailing from the 31st century, Bart, the grandson of Barry Allen, served as Impulse, then as Kid Flash, and finally, after being hyperaged in the Speed Force, the Flash. Tragically, Bart was killed by the Rogues. Jesse Chambers Daughter of the speedster Johnny Quick, Jesse Chambers became a speeding superhero like her father, called Jesse Quick, and later, Liberty Belle. She later met Wally West, the Flash, who would ask her to be his replacement if something were to happen to him (as part of an elaborate plan on his part, trying to force Bart Allen to take his role in the legacy of the Flash more seriously). She briefly assumes the mantle of the Flash, after Wally enters the Speed Force. Future Versions Unnamed Allen of the 23rd Century The father of Sela Allen, his wife and daughter were captured by Cobalt Blue. He was forced to watch his wife die and his daughter become crippled. As he and Max Mercury killed Cobalt Blue, a child took the gem and killed Allen. This Flash was one of the two destined Flashes to be killed by Cobalt Blue. Sela Allen Sela Allen is an ordinary human in the 23rd century until Cobalt Blue steals electrical impulses away from her, causing her to become as slow to the world as the world is to the Flash. Hoping to restore her, her father takes her into the Speed Force. When her father is killed, she appears as a living manifestation of the Speed Force, able to lend speed to various people and objects, but unable to physically interact with the world. Jace Allen Jace Allen gained superspeed when his father brought him into the Speed Force to attempt to cure him of a virus injected into his body by Cobalt Blue in an attempt to end the Allen bloodline. In memory of his father, Jace took up the mantle of the Flash and continued the feud against Cobalt Blue. Kryad After an alien creature invaded Earth, a history buff named Kryad traveled back in time from the 98th Century to acquire a GL power ring. He failed, so he tried to capture the Flash's speed instead. After being beaten by Barry Allen (The Flash (vol. 1) #309, May 1982), he went back further in time and used the chemicals from the clothes Barry Allen was wearing when he gained his powers. Kryad gave his life to defeat the alien creature. Alternate Versions Tanaka Rei The Flash of Earth-D, Rei was a Japanese man who idolized Barry Allen, whose stories only existed in comic books. Rei was inspired by Allen to become the Flash, much like Allen was inspired to become the Flash by his idol, Jay Garrick. Allen and Rei met during the Crisis on Infinite Earths when Barry was coming back from the 30th century and arrived in the wrong universe. As that earth was under attack by the shadow demons, Barry called on the Justice League and Tanaka called on the Justice Alliance, his world's version of the Justice League. They built a cosmic treadmill and made an evacuation. The Justice League left, but 39 seconds later, Earth-D perished. Rei made his only appearance in Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Kingdom Come's Wally West In the alternate future presented by Kingdom Come, Wally West has transcended our plane of existence. He now lives between dimensions, even able to see people made into spirits by the Spectre. His daughter, Iris, holds the mantles of both Kid Flash and the Flash proper. Kingdom Come's Iris West When her brother Barry wouldn't take up the Flash mantle, Iris West II decided that she had to. She became a speeding force for good, while staying human, unlike her father. She later joined a team of Teen Titans made up of the sons and daughters of the originals. Tangent The young, female Flash of the Tangent Universe (real name Lia Nelson) is not a speedster, but instead "the first child born in space" and a being made up of and able to control light. As a side effect, she can move at the speed of light, which actually makes her faster than most of the other Flashes, as only Wally West has ever survived a light-speed run without becoming trapped in the Speed Force. She recently reappeared in Justice League of America #16, somehow summoned out of the paper 'green lantern' of her universe - an artifact that survived the Crisis that erased the Tangent Universe from existence.11 Lia Nelson also appeared in Countdown: Arena battling two versions of the Flash from other Earths within the Multiverse. In the 52-Earth Multiverse, the Tangent Universe is designated Earth-9. Just Imagine Stan Lee's The Flash he Flash, real name Mary Maxwell, debuted in Just Imagine Stan Lee and Kevin Maguire Creating Flash (November, 2001). Creators Stan Lee and Kevin Maguire based this version on the original character created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. A normal college girl with a scientist father, Mary's life was very dull and she longed to live the life of the superheroes in the comic books she read. But one day, enemies from her father's past named STEALTH (Special Team of Espionage Agents Licensed to Target and Hit) returned and killed him, but just before he died, he injected her with the DNA from a humming bird, to save her from a life-threatening disease that slowly drained her energy. Green Lightning Ali Rayner-West, Green Lightning, a descendant of both Rayner and Wally West, who has both a power ring and superspeed, but can only use one of them at a time each day. She was later revealed to be a figment of Kyle Rayner's imagination. Flash